Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 908B

Application to High Court seeking order requiring information: associated institutions

Section 908B empowers Revenue authorised officers to apply to the High Court for orders requiring Irish financial institutions to produce information held by their offshore subsidiaries, enabling investigations into tax compliance.

• An authorised officer may seek a High Court order compelling a financial institution to make available records held by a non-resident entity it controls, or to furnish relevant information from that entity.
• The officer must first obtain written consent from a Revenue Commissioner and be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect significant tax non-compliance by the taxpayer concerned.
• A judge may grant the order where reasonable grounds exist, subject to any conditions the judge considers appropriate, and the financial institution must provide reasonable assistance in complying.
• The term "taxpayer" is broadly defined to include unidentified persons, groups of persons, dissolved companies and deceased individuals, and all court hearings under this section are held in private.